Nomos 27

SICILY. Syracuse. Circa 465 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 28 mm, 17.26 g, 7 h), from the Demareteion series. Charioteer, wearing a chiton and holding the reins in his left hand and a goad in his right, driving a quadriga walking to right; above, Nike flying to right to crown the horses; in exergue, lion running to right. Rev. ΣV-RΑ-ΚΟΣΙ-Ο-Ν Head of Arethusa to right, wearing olive wreath, an omphalos pendant earring and a pearl necklace with a pendant; all with a linear circle broken by her neck truncation; around, four dolphins swimming to left. AMB 434 (this coin). Boehringer 386 (V197/R274). Buceti 210b (same dies). Ward 242 (same dies). Very rare. Of very fine style, lightly toned. Traces of overstriking, otherwise, good very fine.

From the collection of A. Moretti, Numismatica Ars Classica 13, 8 October 1998, 434, displayed at the Antikenmuseum in Basel.

The superb style of the types on this coin has long been noted, from the powerful running lion to the unexpectedly olive-wreathed head of Arethusa - they do not need to be detailed here. What is both exciting and unusual is the linear circle that almost completely encircles Arethusa's head, and which only appears on the small number of coins that make up part of the so-called Demareteion series. It harks back directly to the incuse circle that contained Arethusa's head on the early tetradrachms (as on the preceding lot), but here it does something else, it would make the contemporary user see it as an allusion to the interior of an Attic Red Figure drinking cup, a kylix with a scene at the center, in this case Arethusa's head, marked out by a circular border and surrounded by dolphins. The well-centered reverse of this coin shows that analogy perfectly: imagine drinking red wine from a cup like this and seeing Arethusa looking up and out at you, surrounded by dolphins!